


Rise of the Sharingan

by uchihaizuna



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 (Naruto) Feels, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, People may be out of character, Pre-Shippuden, Series Rewrite, Shinobi, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Team as Family, because they are tiny, but getting there, naruto - Freeform, other pairings to be decided - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:14:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21974893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uchihaizuna/pseuds/uchihaizuna
Summary: After the whole Uchiha clan was massacred, Sasuke and Izuna were struggling to pick up the pieces. While trying to regain their footing and get stronger so that someday, they could face the one who murdered their clan, fate seemed to pull them apart and create a gap between them, fueling frustrations and wishes that may never become true.Izuna wished since she was a child to be assigned to the same team as Sasuke, but she finds herself thrown into a whole other team, two years earlier than she was supposed to graduate.Struggling to find her footing and keep the fragile strings that still connected her and Sasuke together, she pushes through, striving to become powerful.
Relationships: Hyuuga Hinata/Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 11





	1. A promise

Uchiha Chinami was restless. Her husband, as well as their tiny five year old daughter could pick up on the subtle cues of her moods with practiced ease and they could see her restlessness in the way her fingers seemed to tremble whenever she would go back and secure Izuna’s dark and silky pony tail, although it was already perfect from the moment she first touched the soft ebony locks of her daughters hair.

They both could see hidden in the smoothed alabaster skin of Chinami’s beautiful features a soft scowl, turning her lips downwards, while her brows furrowed softly in some kind of sentiment that would resemble worry. A person that wasn’t born in the Uchiha clan or never interacted closely with one of them would’ve totally missed the hectic jerks of her movements that were smoothed down by reflexes honed in years of being a strong, active-duty kunoichi.

“Our daughter is looking fine, Chinami. Please calm down.” Izuna’s father spoke, his voice sounding smooth and deep, almost rumbling deeply from his chest.

“I don’t know what the clan head wants to see her for and this fact is giving me a lot of stress. Since they almost banished me from the clan when I married you, I don’t understand why they would insist that they would like to meet Izuna.”

“It’s obvious, love. They suspect that Izuna will inherit your powerful Sharingan and she already showed us that she inherited my kekkei genkai. I’m sure that Fugaku heard about this and he would not pass out on the opportunity to bring fresh powers into their ranks, no matter how opposed they were at first to our marriage.”

Chinami released an exasperated huff, locking her fingers in her husband’s brown hair for some semblance of control and security. Izuna raised her eyes to her parents and offered them a smile, hoping that she could cut away the tension that was charging the air like a Raiton jutsu, those of which her mother was so great at.

“We just have to go. We won’t do anything if we sit around. I heard that one of Fugaku’s boys is the same age as Izuna. Maybe it’s a good opportunity for her to make friends of the same age.”

Chinami kissed her husband’s cheek with fondness. Sometimes, she felt like she married the wisest man alive. She would be eternally grateful for Hideo and his presence in her life.

The atmosphere in the Uchiha compound was the same as Chinami remembered. Although she left the clan of her own accord when she married Hideo, a part of her always missed the snug place that was her home in which she grew up. The fan that was representing their clan’s crest was almost everywhere where she could lay her eyes upon. On the walls, on the back of clothes, in some of the lanterns that were hanging around the street posts – they were all around, easing her tensed up nerves and soothing her restlessness into her usual reserved attitude which Hideo knew very well to associate with the Uchiha’s.

Even though she was more relaxed than she was at first when they left their house, as soon as they arrived at the door of Uchiha Fugaku’s house, Chinami’s shoulders tensed and he felt the flare in her chakra when Chinami forcefully stopped her Sharingan from emerging as a response to her hectic emotional state. Before he could mutter some encouraging for his wife, he felt Izuna’s tiny hand grabbing tighter on his while she spun to hide behind his legs.

Hideo lifted his amber eyes, trying to see what could’ve pushed his daughter into distress, until he was met by the dark features of the Uchiha in front of him. He was used to it and could easily differentiate between different lineages in the clan, but they, in a similar fashion as the Hyūga, shared some similar traits between clan members: dark hair, dark eyes, pale skin and an almost feline grace in their movements, as well as in the angled features that composed their faces.

“Hello. My name is Mikoto. I’m Fugaku’s wife. Please, come in, Chinami-san, Hideo-san.”

Hideo nudged Izuna gently to advance, hoping that her shyness will not get the best of her. He sometimes wondered if Chinami was the same way when she was a child, since he was pretty straightforward when he was five years old. Mikoto went in front of them, guiding them into a traditional living room, where were already seated a stern looking man with two young boys. The eldest – Itachi, as Fugaku presented him – seemed to be as soft and gentle as their mother, around ten years old, with clear eyes and a security in his posture that could only be held by some personal achievements that would make his clan proud. He heard that the boy was a prodigy and he could see the cunning intellect glinting in the earnest stare of his dark eyes.

The younger one, Sasuke, seemed to be a ball of sunshine. His features which he painfully kept serious while he was only in the presence of his father lightened up when he spotted Izuna, a smile gracing his lips. He actually liked both the boys. The reticence present in older members of their clan in regard to Chinami and her fragile status inside the clan ranks hadn’t had the time to stain their young minds. Chinami wasn’t banished from the clan, as proper regulations were required when she refused to marry an Uchiha and married Hideo instead, but she was more or less forced that she will keep onto the name of Uchiha, and pass it on to her husband and their children. Hideo accepted, since his clan wasn’t as important and powerful as the Uchiha, and in that moment, he was glad that he did. Watching the clan head and his children, he could see that Izuna inherited the dark Uchiha colors. He knew that she could never fit anywhere else besides her own. Adding on top of that, he was certain that his daughter will awaken the Sharingan. It was impossible that she wouldn’t since Chinami had the dojutsu at the highest level of mastery since she was very young.

Although Hideo was a very accepting shinobi, prepared to let his daughter live and train alongside the people that were almost her family, he couldn’t stop the tension that gathered in his muscles when Fugaku’s eyes bled from their usual black into the familiar pattern of the Sharingan, studying his daughter. Hideo braced himself, his fingers tingling to release a jutsu that would blanket the clan’s head eyes enough to burn them off his skull, but he refrained himself, even though he would’ve loved to act on his protective instinct.

“She is an Uchiha alright.” Fugaku remarked, his Sharingan fading back to an expressionless glare. “Did she manifest your kekkei genkai so soon?”

“Yes, she did,” answered Hideo in a clipped voice, through gritted teeth.

“What kekkei genkai do you possess, Hideo-san, if I don’t come off as rude for asking?”

Hideo calmed hearing the polite and soft voice of Itachi interrupting his train of thought about gruesome ways in which he could murder the head of the Uchiha clan. There were still three children in this room and one of them was his daughter. He had better control than this. Chinami sat an encouraging hand on his knee and Hideo smiled to the slightly older boy.

“The kekkei genkai that I possess is Lava Release, Itachi-kun; a combination between Fire and Earth chakra. I suppose you already learned about chakra natures.”

Itachi nodded, a look of restrained fascination glinting softly in his eyes. Suddenly, his very intelligent eyes seemed to take in Izuna’s restrained and awkward position between her parents and he nudged his little brother gently.

“Talk to her, ototou. She seems rather lonely, don’t you think?” he asked, his voice gentle, a smile playing at the corner of his lips.

That seemed to be the cue the little boy was waiting for. Sasuke darted from Itachi’s side, in a way that made Hideo think that, with the right training, the boy could become very fast. Sensing no ill-intent regarding him, he convinced himself to just look at his actions and he wasn’t disappointed. The smiling boy sat himself next to Izuna, halting her in mid action before she could bolt to safety hiding at her mother’s side. She lowered her dark eyes, watching the floorboards intently. Sasuke didn’t seem to be deterred by her shy attitude, smiling as though he caught sight of his favorite treat. His hand shot in front of them, grabbing Izuna’s in him, forcing her to look up to meet his earnest gaze, a soft blush coloring her cheeks; and Hideo never considered the novelty that he could love another child besides his own, but felt like he could give Sasuke a chance.

“I’m Sasuke. You don’t have to worry; I will be your friend! I will always protect you! It’s a promise!”

Izuna’s eyes seemed to widen just a bit, but a soft smile started to tug at the corner of her lips and Hideo could see in that faint movement that his daughter would grow up to be the spitting image of Chinami.

“My name is Izuna” she said softly.

Although her tone was faint and restrained the determination with which she grabbed Sasuke’s hand warmed both his heart and Chinami’s. When Sasuke asked if they could go outside to play, Hideo and Chinami had absolutely no objection. With a respectful bow in their direction, Itachi left the room as well to keep an eye on the two children so that they would get along, although Hideo was having no doubts that they could not get along.

“I will accept Izuna into the clan” Fugaku started when the children were far enough into the yard so that they couldn’t hear anything that they were talking, even if it were accidental “But I would like to impose a safety measure, even though both of you would likely refuse.”

“What is that safety measure, Fugaku?” asked Chinami, eyes narrowing dangerously.

“A pretty simple one. I would like to propose a marriage between your daughter and Sasuke in the future.” He raised a hand in a placating gesture when Chinami’s Sharingan spun to life in her eyes, immediately morphing into the dangerous pattern of the Mangekyo and Hideo half-rose to a standing position, his whole body coiled like a spring from tension.

“You can see me as a monster if you would feel like it, but it’s a natural progression. Since you, Chinami, refused to marry an Uchiha, we want to keep the Sharingan in the Uchiha clan. Konoha has already taken enough from us and the Fourth Hokage may have been pushing to progress, but he is already long dead and we are all under the villages eyes because they believe an Uchiha controlled the Kyubi into attacking Konoha. All I want is a precaution. Hideo came to be a person who deserves to be trusted and embraced by the clan, but I won’t let destiny decide if Izuna will be manipulated in the future to marry someone who is under the foot of the village. They would exploit her and her offspring, since her blood not only carries the Sharingan, but another powerful kekkei genkai. Do you understand my reasoning?”

“But this is absurd! They are just children, Fugaku! You cannot take their option to fall in love just so that you won’t be paranoid that Izuna’s children will be stolen by the village!”

“Chinami, our clan’s situation is too precarious to even think about the option of falling in love. I wonder, what isn’t so undesirable about my son? I even proposed Sasuke because they are the same age and they seem to get along just fine from their first interaction. I purposefully left Itachi out of this arrangement so that Izuna won’t have to bear the added weight of being married to the future clan head.”

“I believe in Sasuke’s capacity to love” said Mikoto in a soft voice. “He is a really great child and I’m sure he will become a wonderful young man. Please, accept for now. It’s just a promise. If Izuna happens to fall in love with someone else in the years to come, I swear on my honor that we won’t force her.”

Fugaku pulled a sour look at her remark but a stern glare from his gentle wife made him keep his opinion to himself and Hideo finally relaxed. Chinami took her place back at the table, looking defeated, although she never stopped the flow of steady chakra that was keeping her Sharingan at the surface.

“I will accept, for now. But if Izuna won’t be able to love Sasuke in that way in the future or Sasuke won’t be capable to do it, I will pull her back of the clan, even if we have to be banished for good.”

“Seems like we have an agreement” said Fugaku, extending an arm to shake Chinami’s.

Strangely, Hideo never felt like it was a mistake that they agreed to it. Somehow, he felt like some loose pieces fell together in a grander scheme that he never could’ve accurately predict; but, seeing his daughter laughing outside along the younger son of the clan head, the certainty nestled further into his heart. If Sasuke would keep his promise and would continue to be her friend, he was sure that Izuna will gladly lay her heart for him when the time will be right. He surely never hesitated to offer his heart when Chinami refused to leave his side.

Izuna’s days were fuller. She suddenly had a friend and their visits almost daily for playdates became days spent in each other’s company when she and her parents moved back into the compound. Chinami said that it was for their safety, that their clan has to stick together. She only nodded when her mother reasoned the choice, but was secretly happy. Moving into the compound, in Chinami’s childhood home, meant more time to spend with Sasuke and his nice older brother.

They started going together at the academy, both enrolled in the same class since they were the same age. As days passed along while they studied together, playing morphed into small training sessions. Itachi was more and more busy but he will sometimes stop to show them some shurikenjutsu.

Izuna’s confidence grew with each achievement, every day spent with her friend helping her out to step out of her shell. Spending her time at the core of the clan of which she belonged to helped piece together whatever was missing before.

They were seven years old when they were taken separately on a day off from the Academy. They were practicing their aim in the backyard of Izuna’s house, trying to bend the trajectory of the shuriken as much as they could without the Sharingan aiding them. Itachi has already enrolled into Anbu and he had less and less time to spare in helping them with tips. Of course, Chinami and Mikoto offered to help them out, but they both refused on the grounds that Itachi was faster and he could bend the shuriken even with his eyes closed.

Fugaku entered the yard and collected Sasuke, claiming that he has to show him something. Sasuke smiled sheepishly at Izuna and hugged her fast, claiming that he will see her later, leaving with Fugaku, gleaming of happiness and pride and even though Izuna had no business to be involved, she somehow felt like she was left behind. Was Fugaku going to show Sasuke some amazing new jutsu?

Suddenly, a soft hand caressed her hair and Izuna raised her eyes to meet Chinami’s smiling dark ones.

“I know exactly what Fugaku is going to show to Sasuke-kun, Izuna. I can train you as well. You see, in the Uchiha clan, we all have a natural inclination to fire as a natural affinity in our chakra. They say that no Uchiha is a true Uchiha until he or she masters the _Gōkakyū no Jutsu_. This jutsu will be the first from which you will lay the foundation of your Katon arsenal upon as a future shinobi. Do you think you want to give it a try as well, Izuna?”

Izuna’s eyes seemed to shine from the moment she caught on the fact that her mother was going to show her a clan jutsu. It could’ve been anything, even the most insignificant out of all the ninjutsu, but she would still want to learn. When she nodded, she felt like her head my come loose off her neck and Chinami laughed, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.

“Then come with me, little one.” Chinami said softly and Izuna followed her mother, her heart thumping wildly inside her chest.

They practiced together for a few days. Sasuke seemed to have great difficulties about mastering the jutsu and Hideo told Izuna one time at dinner that he may have another natural affinity, that wasn’t fire. When Izuna voiced her amazement, Chinami told her that it wasn’t unheard of. Uchiha’s were, indeed, a clan of fire, but they could branch out to other elements as well, so long as they became strong, and rarely, there were people who had other natural affinity outside of fire.

Izuna mastered _Gōkakyū no Jutsu_ first. She was really glad and relieved that Sasuke wasn’t there to see it so he won’t become upset, but after two days, he got it down as well and Hideo was pleasantly surprised to see someone whose natural affinity was lightning and who had low reserves of chakra, since he was only a child, blow out such a perfect and strong ball of fire.

Hideo took over her training after the Uchiha’s clan coming of age jutsu was perfect, trying to teach his daughter how to channel the simplest and basest form of her Lava Release kekkei genkai. It was a hard and laborious work. Izuna was expecting immediate response and he tried to explain many times to a girl that was born to become a prodigy that her mastery over the Lava Release will not come as fast and swiftly as it did over fire.

His simplest attack was coating his fist and lava before he could strike. This gave the attack an edge powerful enough to scorch an enemy with enough chakra, or render him unconscious. Hideo observed, from the moment Izuna started her training with her mother that she exhibited a natural and effortless chakra control so great and precise that he wondered if she would go outside of the warrior ways of the Uchiha clan and become a medical-nin, but when he asked her, she refused with such a vehemence that made him laugh. Of course she wouldn’t want that. She was an Uchiha, her mother’s daughter, a fighter; and he was the same, so it was to be expected.

Like Hideo expected, Izuna couldn’t master the great feat that was controlling her fire and earth chakra together to coat her fist with it, but he was almost blown away, literally, when Izuna punched the tree she was training on so hard that she almost broke her hand. He charged forward so fast that he got dizzy to inspect his daughter’s bleeding hand, when a thundering sound seemed to echo all around them, the tree rupturing and falling to the ground.

“Father… did I do that?” Izuna asked, seemingly as shocked as he was.

Hideo could only nod, amazed to his very bones. She couldn’t master the _Yōton: Shakugaikōken,_ but unknowingly and unwillingly, she created another attack for herself without even intending for it. Something that Tsunade, the world renowned medical Sannin took years to perfect, his daughter discovered on her own, with no study of it whatsoever. Chakra enhanced strength. It only occurred then to Hideo that he was, most likely, raising a monster.

Chinami laughed later, when Izuna, with a bandaged hand, went to train into her shurikenjutsu and kenjutsu with Sasuke at the clan’s head house.

“I told you it was too early for her to learn that jutsu, Hideo. She may have the kekkei genkai, it’s true, but she misses the training that will allow her to master the finesse of it. I’m sure she will get the hang of it soon.”

“Chinami, I’m not disappointed that Izuna didn’t master _Shakugaikōken_. I’m simply blown away that she curbed it into chakra enhanced strength, without being even conscious about it.”

“Of course she did,” she cooed, pride filling her dark eyes, making them gleam with delight “She is my daughter. She is bound to be better than any kid her age.”

Hideo sighed. He didn’t sign up for this kind of stuff when he married an Uchiha. He wondered to himself, how he would keep up in the future with training Izuna if she was showing this kind of prodigious talent so early? He will be blown to dust when she will reach sixteen years old. Combining that natural talent with the Sharingan? He shivered.

“The Academy is so boring,” Izuna lamented, holding Sasuke’s hand while coming home after courses “They never teach us any ninjutsu besides _Bunshin no Jutsu, Kawarimi no Jutsu_ and _Henge no Jutsu._ We mastered them already. Aren’t there any other things that we could learn?”

“We both did, but there are others in our year who are still struggling with those and will probably struggle some more. We will just have to learn on our own and from our parents,” said Sasuke, giving her a warm smile and squeezing her hand softly.

When they reached the compound, the darkness startled them both. It wasn’t unusual that they will stay late for kunai or shuriken practice, but they usually found lights and people still around the streets at this hour.

Fear creeped inside their souls, coiling around in a merciless, cold grip. Shivers ran up and down the small bodies of the two children and they almost broke each other’s bones when they gripped their hands tighter.

“Something is wrong…” Sasuke whispered.

Izuna could only swallow harshly against her dry throat, unable to get a single sound out. A foreboding wind seemed to rustle their hair with icy fingers, carrying with it a strong, metallic scent that left a horrible taste in their mouth, like fire and ash, mixed with the undeniable undertone of blood. Izuna felt like throwing up.

When they finally found the strength to move their feet along, the bodies showed up slowly but steady. Unseeing eyes, pools of blood, cold skin and scattered weapons, all lay around discarded. Izuna and Sasuke went from corpse to corpse, shouting the names of people that they loved, but no one could answer. The silence was eerie. No birds could be heard, no crickets were singing. Everything was still and soundless, like life froze around the compound when their inhabitants lost their lives.

They parted, each darting to their own houses. Izuna’s steps were almost deafening in the still silence of the night. The darkness seemed to move, having a life on its own, in the same way the Nara’s would control their shadows. She was expecting that someone would grab her from around the corner and strangle her to death and she could do nothing to stop it. She had to get to them – she will be safe alongside mother and father. They are strong. They know what to do when Izuna is stuck.

Everything seemed to still into place. Time lost meaning and everything seemed hopeless when she found them. There were no signs of a struggle, but Chinami had dried tears on her face, the streaks almost invisible on her pale skin. There was a pool of blood as they both fell to the ground, lifeless and unmoving, hands clenched together tightly. Izuna screamed until her throat hurt like an open wound.

She fell on her knees next to them. Wished and prayed and begged for them to just wake up, for it to be just a cruel genjutsu, or some kind of charade. Dawn came and gone, the sunlight illuminating the faces of her parents. When the shinobi came to clean up and they took her away, she didn’t have any fight left in her. Her parents were gone and never coming back.

Sandaime thought that it will be a good idea for Izuna and Sasuke to be moved out of the compound and to share the same apartment. The old man said something about grief and supporting each other, but she felt empty inside and could see the same look in Sasuke’s eyes. He was still her friend, he was still close to her heart, but whenever they were crossing paths into the apartment, his face was a reminder of a clan she found so late and lost so soon; of her mother’s beautiful features, clearly and undoubtedly Uchiha.

For the first few months, they learned how to tiptoe around the apartment in a way that they could miss each other as much as it was possible. When Izuna would wake up, she would listen through the thin walls to hear if Sasuke was still asleep. If he were, she would go to the kitchen and make breakfast. In that stretch of time, Sasuke would go to the bathroom. After she finished cooking and ate, feeling like she was chewing ash, she would go into her room to grab fresh clothes for the day, while Sasuke will move to eat in the kitchen, leaving the bathroom free. They would never hang up together in the living room, leave at different times for the Academy, leave separately from the Academy, avoiding each other in the classroom as much as they could.

Sometimes, in the sleepless nights when she would close her eyes and see her mother’s face and their joined hands, she would miss him more than ever. They used to hang out every day, talking about what summons they would love to contract when they will be older, of what kind of shinobi they dream to become. They used to train together and fall asleep on the spot from exhaustion. When that happened, usually Itachi or one of their parents will come and collect them to get them home. If Izuna concentrated enough she could hear Sasuke’s breathing, just a wall apart and would wish from the bottom of her heart to go and reach out to him; to cry on his shoulder instead of muffling it into the pillow. To bear the burden and the sorrow together, since they were the only ones left anyway.

Whenever the urge would become suffocating, she would go to the nearest training ground and train until she couldn’t move a single muscle of her body.

_It’s unfair_ , she thought, hoping that the world could swallow her whole, until there was nothing left.

Sasuke was the one to reach out to her, in one particular night in which her nightmares became so violent that when he finally managed to get her awake, she had her palms bloody and was shivering so hard that she could swear she would jump out of her own skin. She swallowed hard around the lump in her throat, trying to not to throw up onto Sasuke, who still held her tightly against him.

“I’m sorry I woke you up” she managed to finally talk, through gritted teeth.

Sasuke answered with a soft “hn” which could mean a lot of things in particular, but at that moment she believed it meant something along the lines of ‘I don’t really care’. He used to talk more than she ever did back when their lives were whole. This new Sasuke, changing up right before her very eyes, made her uncomfortable, but still longing for him. She knew, without any other confirmation, that he could become anything, act in any way possible and still she wouldn’t leave him, because her best memories were spent in his very presence. At the same time she knew that, after what they have been through, they could never go back to the way they used to be.

His dark eyes scanned the window, searching for something that most surely wasn’t even there. She forced herself to let go of the dark shirt which was holding on tightly and Sasuke reluctantly dropped his arms. His body’s warmth now missing made Izuna feel like the whole world had turned into ice.

“Itachi killed them; the whole clan.”

Izuna felt like the whole world tilted abruptly and then stopped moving completely. She could see Itachi’s nice smile and warm eyes, his fingers poking hers or Sasuke’s forehead, telling them that he couldn’t train with them. Uchiha Itachi, the pride of the clan, the genius that was born amongst geniuses; the hope of the clan and their light, he was the one who slaughtered their whole clan, including her parents. She could see Chinami’s face, frozen forever, never to smile again, her father, without the warmth that seemed to swallow him whole. She never could’ve showed him again that she mastered his Jutsu. She never would show her mother that she had awoken her Sharingan and ask Chinami to help her perfect it. Because Itachi robbed her of them, of the chance for her to prove in front of the clan that, just because her mother married someone that wasn’t an Uchiha, that didn’t mean that she was weaker than any of them.

“Why… did he killed them? Why did he left us alive?!” she managed to ask through the haze in her mind.

“He said he wanted to measure the scope of his abilities… Just for this reason he…” Sasuke’s voice seemed to stall, his hands balling into fists, and Izuna couldn’t help herself but notice, how small they were – his hands, as well as hers. “He said that there is no value in killing the likes of me; that as long as I wish to kill him, to never appear before him until I possess the same eyes as he does. That night, I thought that he would kill you as well, when he left…”

“So, he had no reason to leave me alive… Then why?”

She thought about the deal that her mother accepted, more or less forced, that she and Sasuke will marry when they will reach adulthood, but it seemed like an unlikely reason for Itachi to leave Izuna alive. If he was so dead-set on killing every Uchiha alive, why would he leave _her_ , more than Sasuke, to stick around?

“Maybe he wanted another option; if I somehow manage to fail to kill him, for someone else to be there to end his misery – that is, another Uchiha.”

Even though her mind was roaring with possibilities, questions and confusing thoughts that Sasuke, for sure, had no answer to, she remained silent, watching the ruffled bed covers. She forced herself to push the tears that were stinging her eyes back, refusing to cry.

“I need you to promise me something, Izuna.”

Sasuke grabbed her fingers, making her eyes meet his with all the seriousness of his gaze. That kind of look should’ve never had to exist on the face of an eight year old boy, but it was there. Shattered, but not defeated. Mature, but surrounded by child features. Burning with the power of the hatred that surely consumed him in the last few months since the massacre.

“Please, let me be the one to end Itachi” he said when Izuna trained her gaze on him, but didn’t answer “Don’t stand in my way and promise me that you will let me take his life as revenge for our clan. I will make him suffer for your loss as well, I promise.”

Izuna felt like protesting, but when she opened her mouth, Sasuke already seemed to know what she wanted to say.

“If I am to fall, you can pick up after me and execute him. Please Izuna, promise me.”

Time seemed to stretch indefinitely as Izuna weighed his statement. She remembered, three years ago, a smiling boy, promising that he would be her friend – that he would always protect her. There was almost no trace of the boy she once knew in the one standing in front of her, staring expectantly, waiting for an answer to such a dark request, but she felt like she had to give in this time; to offer her only friend a promise as important as was his in the day they met.

“Fine,” she finally conceded “I promise, you will be the one to avenge our clan. And I promise you something else. I will make sure, whoever will try to stand in your way, be it friend or foe, that I will be the one to stop them.”


	2. Team Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a bit boring, but I promise that chapter three will bring a little more action. I wanted to have a little bit of introduction to the characters that are so important to my OC. Enjoy!

Izuna thought that the day of her graduation will follow through a different path. She thought about the day she could finally become a kunoichi a long time, every time she, Sakura, Ino, Hinata and the other girls were forced to attend the boring kunoichi classes, she would daydream about the team that will come to be hers. No more stupid flower arrangements, just raw power and teamwork. The kunoichi classes were something that she always saw as unnecessary, but her protests always fell on deaf ears, so she just consoled herself with the taijutsu training hours in which she could pound her frustrations into someone else’s skin, imagining that the one she was punching was the teacher that swore up and down that she was a master at infiltration missions. Sure.

She always had just one singular request from the heavens for the moment she will be assigned to a team – Sasuke will be assigned to it as well. It was a feeling born out of familiarity and safety that could be brought to her only by his presence. In the two years that passed since the massacre, they managed to patch up the strain that started to grow between them, once they settled toward a common goal: become strong so that they could kill Itachi.

Her plans never seemed to follow through a clean path. On the day that everybody went on to summer vacation, Iruka announced that Izuna will graduate. The results on his papers were having at the top two names fighting for supremacy and he wasn’t even surprised that that was the outcome. Although his personal suggestion for an early graduation would’ve been to just let both the Uchiha kids to graduate at the same time, the Third’s wish was beyond any of his recommendation. The top scorer of that year was Uchiha Izuna, followed in close pursuit by Uchiha Sasuke. Because she managed to get in front of him by only a tiny amount, the Third ordered that the girl will be made Genin in that very day, and assigned to a newly formed team that was lacking a third member. He would’ve opted for their senior, Hyūga Neji who was also a top scorer, but one year ahead of his students who were only ten, but the Third didn’t accept it. He said the Hyūga wasn’t ready, but the Uchiha girl was, so he had to follow the orders.

The look of resentment that Izuna could see in Sasuke’s eyes broke her heart and she knew, with certainty that their relationship was, at that very moment, worse than when they lost their families.

As she walked down the halls of the Academy to the classroom in which her future team was going to assemble, she felt something like dread coiling up in the depths of her stomach and she almost entertained the idea of running away: away from the team, away from the Academy, away from Konoha itself. She stopped, breathed deeply and sighed. She was an Uchiha. She would never dishonor her clan and tarnish her mother’s memory – Chinami was recognized to be a very powerful kunoichi, a prodigy and one of the old teammates of the Fourth Hokage himself – so there was no time for her to mop around the fact that things didn’t turn out the way she wanted them to.

In the empty classroom, the two boys who sat in pleasant silence were looking in opposite directions of each other, buried in their own thoughts. The news that they received that day almost obliterated their rush of finally becoming Genin. Their supposed third teammate failed his test, ultimately being sent back to the Academy. All the other teams were already formed, on their merry way with their new sensei, while they sat there, knowing that if a third person won’t show up to join their ranks, they will be sent back to the academy as well, no matter the fact that they were talented and had what it takes to make great shinobi.

Izuna regarded them in silence from the door, noticing the difference. She was only ten, while they were already twelve. Taller than her, clearly stronger, but she knew, never as prepared as she could be. Never as good as she could be, because she was the one whose scores were so high that year that she even passed the ones that graduated already. One of the boys had dark brown straight hair, long enough that he could tie it at the base of his neck. His forehead protector was perched above a pair of pale lavender eyes which she knew from her classmate, Hinata, that were the sign of the Hyūga bloodline limit – Byakugan. She studied him for a while in complete silence, taking his calm and strong demeanor into consideration, as well as the glint of kindness in his pale eyes. He was a good natured soul and she marveled at that for a little while. In front of her sat a branch member of the Hyūga bloodline actually at ease with his fate.

The other boy had a strong, calm aura around him as well, but his green eyes seemed to burn into her soul. She could easily tell that he was restless. His hands never moved or trembled, his legs never gave way to a tick that could account for his agitated spirit, but his eyes were a strong enough indicator. He had hair so red that was almost shocking, the color so deep and powerful, suiting his strong personality. She wondered for herself how strong he could be; if he was stronger than her.

She sat away from them, never bothering to introduce herself, knowing already that it would be a pain in the neck to talk when their Jonin sensei will arrive and ask for their names and whatever silly things he would ask, and treating them like they were mere children. Maybe that was true for the two boys who will most likely become her new teammates, but she was not a child anymore. She was forced to grow up, under her legs, the slippery blood of her family and clan, on her back, the heavy burden of loneliness and solitude, on her left, the scorching ache of her heart that, as much revenge she wished, she would never get it, and on her right, the promise that she will never get involved with the killer who stole her warmth and smile, because _he_ was the one who will kill him in the future. She desperately tried watching in front of herself, trudging along, out of breath and heart bleeding, but in front of her was just darkness that was swallowing her whole.

She heard a snort to her right and could see that the redhead was next to her, face scrunched up in displeasure as he studied her close.

“What do you want?” she asked in a voice cold and uncaring.

Another snort erupted from the boy.

“What is it Uchiha? Are you too good to introduce yourself to us? Do you think your privilege means anything to us?”

She glared at him, not feeling the need to answer his question. Her way of reacting only fueled his anger more. He grabbed at her shirt, pulling her up, using his slightly larger frame to his own advantage. The redheaded boy pulled his hand back, preparing to punch her in the face. She didn’t knew where his aversion for the Uchiha clan came from, or if this kind of behavior was only aimed at her just for herself, but before he could even hit her, Izuna’s kicked, aiming for his neck. A pale hand, with soft, white skin pulled at his hair and another fast kick pushed him across the room, making his back hit against the wall.

The boy groaned and he opened his eyes, looking at the tiny girl with black eyes, and he felt frustration welling up in his chest. She was so calm and composed and managed to deliver him two kicks that made his head spin and took his breath away. The brown haired boy looked from one to the other, trying to understand the situation, and seeming to fail in the first minutes.

“What is it, idiot? Are you too afraid to bully me now? Did you thought that if I was younger I could make you feel better about your failing, sorry ass? Don’t underestimate the Uchiha! If I were weak and frail I would’ve given up on my clan’s crest long ago!”

Both the boys looked at each other, amazed that the redhead managed to rile her up so much, after she was decided to give them the silent treatment. She clenched her fists, pushing forward in the classroom and the Hyūga felt the need to activate his Byakugan so that he could follow her fast movement.

He could see chakra gathering in her fist in an impressive amount. He never was aware that someone so young could have such fine chakra control. He was still struggling with it for a bit and he was trained especially for it. He raised himself from his seat, trying to stop her, but she flew past him almost in a blur, too fast for him, almost too fast for his _Byakugan_!

“Shit” he cursed and he could almost see his friend’s face crushed into a bloody mess.

He registered the movements automatically, but it took his brain a few more seconds to realize what had happened. A shadow blocked her attack, diverting her fist so it will crash into the wall, and with a noise that sounded almost like thunder, punching a hole in it so big that the cracks spread across the entire wall, looking dangerously like it would soon collapse over them. Her wrist was still held in the grasp of a big hand, armed with gloves that had metal plates on them.

“Well, that was a close call.”

The mature voice spoke above Izuna, who was panting hardly, her breathing almost shallow. The tall man looked at her with curiosity, his dark eyes meeting the crimson flare of the Sharingan. Of course, it wasn’t matured, only awakening with a single tomoe in the left eye, and two on the right eye, but it made him sigh inwardly nonetheless. He felt like the girl was too young to be burned along her cursed legacy that emerged from her blood like a corpse from its grave. He was lucky that it wasn’t the first time he saw these eyes, and although he didn’t possess them – and he would’ve had a better suggestion for the person who could actually hone those eyes – he knew that he could at least _try_ and help out the girl, since she was assigned to his team, and not Kakashi’s. Kakashi didn’t even accept a team, so the girl was probably better off with him. He knew already the fragile state in which the two Uchiha were.

“Stand down, please. I’m sure he meant no harm. There is no need for us to kill each other from the first day, without knowing even our names.”

He asked, not _ordered_ , fearing that an order now, in her state of anger and the Sharingan freshly woken, would just nudge her towards darkness more than help her out. She came down slowly from her frenzied state as she blinked a few times, until her black eyes returned. He felt pity for the girl, never letting it show to his face, though. He knew that when the Uchiha were alive, only a few had the chance to awaken the bloodline limit in the span of their whole lives, even among themselves. The ones that _did awaken_ it though, had their souls doomed, consumed by darkness. He took a deep breath, with the awakening passed by and forgotten, while the young girl tried to push back her hand from within the wall.

He prayed in silence to whichever god was good enough to listen to give him the strength and the brain necessary for him to help her out in using the Sharingan, and not the Sharingan using her.

“Okay. Now that the spirits have calmed down…”

He was interrupted by a snort from the red headed boy and an annoyed huff from the young Uchiha and he felt a headache starting to creep on him. Deciding to ignore them, he continued like he never heard them.

“My name is Akira and I’m of the Senju clan. I will be the Jonin in charge of the newly formed Team Nine. For further clarification, that is you three who already cause so much trouble from the moment you laid eyes on each other. Now, present yourselves.”

Crisis averted and students seating down, he took the liberty to order them around. They will have to get used to taking orders while he was in charge of them, they were too little to know how to handle a mission alone.

“I’m Hikaru.” The brown haired Hyūga boy spoke, his voice soft and nice to listen to. Akira was sure that his voice would only get more soothing as they boy will pass over the voice cracks of puberty. He thought that that was a great advantage. A soft spoken enemy will always misguide and make them think that he was weak. But Akira was handed a very firm base to form, under his supervision, a team powerful enough to shatter anything in its path.

His ambition was overtaking him and he had to tone it down a little and calm down. They were just children in need of his guidance at that very moment, even if they wanted it or not.

“Hyūga Hikaru.” The boy continued “I, of course, am not the member of the head house within the Hyūga, but I want to get strong and prove the elders that they are wrong about the way they keep leading the family.”

Akira smiled at the boy. Brave. He liked brave. He made a mental note for himself to look closely into the Gentle Fist so he could help the boy train under him.

“Thank you, Hikaru. How about you tell us something?” Akira asked the redheaded boy.

He was still fuming from the humiliation and defeat he had to endure in the face of a girl two years younger than him.

“Uzumaki Kazumi” he mumbled under his breath.

“Uzumaki?” Izuna asked, her nose slightly crinkling in disgust. “Man, no wonder you are such a prick.”

“Shut up, Uchiha! You are no saint either!” Kazumi growled at her, resuming his pouting.

Akira’s dark gaze turned to meet the last in the classroom, the young Uchiha. Like Kazumi alike, she grew up an orphan, after they both lost their parents in equally tragic events. There were, though, differences between the two kids. While Izuna was holding herself together with pride, one of the qualities that her clan was recognized for, there was also a coldness that enveloped her, leaving her dark eyes with an empty gaze most of the time that only flared up of anger. Meanwhile, Kazumi had an overly better tone about himself. Not exactly brimming to the top with happiness, but showing just by the power of pure example that he was, in fact, not affected by the same ‘disease’ that plagued the Uchiha and painted them in dark colors.

“Uchiha Izuna” she slowly spoke, her cold voice, too mature for her young body. “I only live to get strong. I seek to become strong enough that one day I will be prepared to avenge my clan…”

Her sentence seemed to hang in the air, with a never spoken _but_. She continued, but only for herself _‘But only if Sasuke fails to avenge us, only then I will rise and strike with my own power.’_

Akira noted for himself that the team that was formed so hastily and swiftly pushed into his arms was so out of balance and out of tune with the children their age that he had to struggle to get them to piece together. But he won’t give up. He will find a way to form the perfect Team Nine with the ambitious Hyūga, the restless Uzumaki and the dark Uchiha. He would make it work. Hokage-sama has already put his faith in him and Akira would hate to disappoint.

“Before we go into any mission, although you will only do D-ranks for a while, I would like to know something about each of you so that I can determine in which way I can start to train each one of you.”

While Akira talked, he pulled some sheets from his pocket and handed them to each one. He noted that Hikaru already and unconsciously took upon the role of peacemaker between his two hotheaded students, seating himself in the middle, flanked by Izuna on his right and Kazumi on his left. That was a good sign; maybe they weren’t as hopelessly out of synch as he first assessed. Even if they were, he knew exactly how to work around that flaw.

“What are these for, Sensei?” asked Hikaru, playing with the sheet of paper between his fingers.

“These are chakra induction papers. They are made from a tree that is grown and fed with chakra. When you expose it to chakra, it will respond in a particular matter, depending on the natural affinity that you have for one of the five basic elements.”

“I already know this.” Izuna stated in a bored tone, the paper held in her fingers catching fire and turning into ash.

“Let the other two learn, alright, Izuna? Plus, I will need you to make a demonstration while I get to a specific point. As Izuna showed you, when she ran her chakra through the paper, it caught fire. This is stating pretty obviously that her natural affinity is fire, but that is a given in the Uchiha clan. I want you guys to try as well and then we will move on.”

The sheet of water became damp in Hikaru’s hand and the one Kazumi held between his fingers split into two.

“Water and wind; this will be a lot of work, especially you, Hikaru. Since the Hyūga are so oriented on a specific style of fighting, but I would love to teach you some Water Release as well and maybe we could incorporate it into the Gentle Fist.”

Hikaru’s eyes seemed to shine and he nodded full of enthusiasm.

“What about me, Akira-sensei?” asked Kazumi, getting excited.

“Well, since I will work with Hikaru on the Hyūga taijutsu, I would like for you to continue studying the Fuinjutsu of the Uzumaki clan. From I gathered about you, you already have a head start in that direction. Since Fuinjutsu is not often time offensive and you are too young to attempt to use it for attacks, we will start with a few soft Futon jutsu, and then we will see how we branch out and work our way up. Although, since your chakra control is already so fine and precise for seals I would love to recommend you to some studies of medical ninjutsu. You don’t have to specialize if you don’t want to, but it will be a great asset to the team in the future.”

“You said you wanted to tell us something else about the natural affinities, Akira.” Said Izuna, while Kazumi took the whole speech into consideration, probably working through his mind the different possibilities and how he could work with all of them.

“I didn’t forget. There is another type of natural affinity which is manifested as a kekkei genkai and can’t be attained through nothing else than genetics, just like the Byakugan and the Sharingan. Izuna possesses one type of this kind of natural affinity. It is called Yōton, Lava Release. It’s a combination of fire and… Izuna, would you like to demonstrate?”

Feeling like it somehow all turned into some kind of entertainment show for her new teammates; she grabbed the piece of paper that was handed to her. The moment the chakra surged through it, it crumbled into pieces.

“That is Earth. Since you two heard already of the plans that I have for you, I would like to tell you, Izuna, what you will gain from being my student. First will be intense taijutsu training to hone power and speed. The Sharingan is a versatile dojutsu that can adapt copy and sometimes even predict patterns of the movement of one’s enemy; but, all these abilities are wasted on the user if your body can’t keep up with your eyes. We will rectify that together. Meanwhile, you will gain more Katon and Doton jutsu in your arsenal. Once you become one with each of the two elements, we can continue on to refine your arsenal of Yōton ninjutsu. Do you have something to study off of?”

“My father left me some scrolls with every Yōton jutsu that he knew and used. I can learn off them.”

“Then these are my expectations. You will all perform; I will make sure of that. I have enough knowledge on the fields I will guide you through, but when my own knowledge will stop, I will make sure to bring other Jonin to help you out in your training. Then, there is one more thing – teamwork. You, as a team of three, under me, will have to work together to survive in missions until you become strong enough. Izuna, Kazumi, you are compatible with some combination ninjutsu and you two will have to spar with Hikaru as well, until you learn every way in which he moves and he can be countered so you know how to support him in the future. He is strongly taijutsu oriented and it will help you two to master it as well. Izuna, Hikaru, your eyes will be crucial to the team and I will teach you how to work with them as well. And last but not least, Hikaru and Kazumi, you can combine your eyes and respectively the sensory type ability to track down enemies that Izuna, who will be the damaging force in this team, will take it down. Are we clear?”

Izuna wondered if the man was a bit insane. The way he was expecting their team to form was impossible for her to comprehend. They were freshly made Genin. She was sure that the skillset that they came with was so limited and she wondered what made him even think about that course of action, although the reasoning seemed logical and each path thought out so carefully to complement and support another. Even though she had her doubts and she felt a little bit overwhelmed, she felt a nice, warm weight settling in her heart. She will become powerful – the man in front of her will help her to become powerful, and that was exactly what she wished for, from the day her mother taught her the Gōkakyū no Jutsu.

Days turned into weeks and weeks into months. The missions were boring, only D-ranks, as Akira promised, which were always composed of walking some lord’s dogs, gathering garbage from the river, helping out with fences, cleaning out farms and rounding up livestock. The thrill of action of which every one of them expected when they joined the newly formed team was missing completely, but training was harsh and bruising. Akira, as pleasant and calm he was as a person was a tyrant as a teacher. He was extremely pleased when all three of them mastered tree walking and water walking in just a few hours since they all had near perfect and precise chakra control.

Next in their routine was taijutsu. He went with them through all the basics again, adopting and even fighting on par with Hikaru with the moves of the Gentle Fist while Izuna had to learn to fight with her advantage of chakra enhanced strength against Kazumi, who, even though wasn’t so strongly taijutsu inclined naturally, was holding out his own and had decent speed.

One of the days, when they were prepared to follow through their usual taijutsu routine, Akira came to them with another Jonin. He was a tall, rambunctious man, with a bowl cut and too intense bushy eyebrows, dressed from head to toe in green spandex and yelling at the top of his lungs about “the fire of youth” or something the moment he laid his eyes upon the three Genin.

“I’m glad that you all three are already here today. Since we are still on the chapter of taijutsu, I’m introducing you Maito Gai, our taijutsu specialist. He will assist any time he can during these lessons to teach you how to better your taijutsu.”

The flamboyant man pushed his fist in front of him, eliciting a growl from Kazumi when he almost plucked his right eye out with his thumbs up and smiled, his teeth almost glittering.

“ _Yosh, minasan_! Let’s work together, adorable students of Akira so that you will become respectable shinobi of Konoha! The fire of youth burns strong in your blood! Forward!”

He laughed and the three Genin shared a look between each other. To say they were terrified was an understatement. Izuna was pretty sure that all Jonin were crazy, but this guy was cutting up on the scale of judgment. He was totally insane. Admitting that he was missing a marble wasn’t diminishing his skills. They were soon forced to admit two things: first, that Akira was a much softer teacher and that they no longer considered him a tyrant. Second, was that Gai, with his yelling and flailing, bowl cut and spandex, was a very good at taijutsu. So good that all three of them learned how to be deadly, fast and hit so hard they could possible knock out the wind out of an adult.

While they were advancing with their taijutsu, Akira started ninjutsu lessons. As he promised, he guided Hikaru through the Gentle Fist techniques, adding up some easy Suiton jutsu that he could learn while he was perfecting the Hyūga style of fighting. Kazumi was advancing in his Fūinjutsu training and he also started his wind element affinity. Meanwhile, Izuna was guided with speed through different Katon belonging to the Uchiha clan, as much as her own chakra could support, her Sharingan being an extremely advantageous tool to use in fast learning. Alongside Katon, she started learning Doton so she could get a feel of both of her elements. She was still not close in mastering the first jutsu that her father wanted her to learn, but she wasn’t going to stop until she was mastering it.

At home, situation was tenser than at the time of the Uchiha massacre. Since her recent promotion to Genin, Izuna had an almost unpredictable program, leaving for a few days sometimes to farms near the area, helping out with weeds and clean ups in the barns, while Sasuke still maintained the same program at the Academy. It was harder to avoid each other more than never, since the only one who was actively avoiding was Sasuke himself. Whenever she would enter the apartment, he would leave promptly the living room or the kitchen, more often than not abandoning his food half eaten on the table, while glaring at her just for a few seconds before he disappeared in his room.

She tried talking to him, but it was like trying to talk to a brick wall. Her words were always hitting against an indifferent reaction, not even a huff or a grunt. She knew that the massacre changed forever the ball of sunshine that was her friend, but she also knew that his current attitude was tied to his own frustration of inability to graduate earlier which was not so much dependent on himself or Izuna for that matter. He trained alone, often times until late hours of night, cooking only for himself and never looked at her. It hurt, but she understood. If the situation was reversed, she could see herself acting the same way. Sasuke always lived in the shadow of his overachieving elder brother. Now he was forced to live in the shadow of her own extreme development. She only wished that the situation was different and he could see her instead of a shadow blinding and suffocating his light.

“I refuse!” Kazumi yelled at the top of his lungs, sitting defiantly on the floor, while Akira contemplated some ingenious ways in which he could make his training harder, Hikaru was apologizing left and right to the Hokage and the other shinobi present in the room and Izuna huffed and looked away from his temper tantrum, but never disagreed.

It was what Akira actually wanted, but never imagined he would receive it in this form. Hikaru was soft spoken, polite, friendly and easy to work with and that applied to both of his teammates. He had no problem with either dynamic which involved Hikaru and Kazumi or Hikaru and Izuna, but as soon as the three of them were to work together, or Izuna and Kazumi were forced into a situation of cooperation, hell ensued because of their harsh clashing personalities. Izuna was cold and collected, analyzing a situation before diving in it with raw strength, usually devising a main plan and a second plan to follow if her first didn’t work out. Kazumi was straight forward. Probably it was something in the Uzumaki blood. He saw something like that with Uzumaki Kushina and some of that in Uzumaki Naruto’s defiance of rules at every turn. He pitied whoever will be the Jonin of a team in which an Uzumaki was a student; or an Uchiha for that matter. He hoped that for the sanity of everyone that the Hokage will never think to put Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto in the same team, since his own team was demonstrating how bad of an idea it was. But he could easily identify the other factor that would probably bring both of the boys together. Sasuke was going to possess the Sharingan, the only eye that could control and suppress the Kyubi.

He sighed, willing himself to get back into straightening his unruly student “Kazumi, you can’t refuse a mission given by Hokage-sama. We are all his subordinates and everything he says is an order that we must follow.”

“I refuse!” Kazumi repeated and he forced himself to stay calm, even though he could feel a vein starting to twitch on his temple “Hokage-sama gave us only stupid missions. I don’t want to go to catch some demon cat for the third time this year! It’s been a whole year since we became Genin! I want something more entertaining than raking up fallen leaves, catching cats, or walking dogs! I’m a shinobi!”

“I like cats. I always wanted to sign a summoning contract with the nekomatas of my clan; but here I have to agree with Kazumi. I’m as tired of these missions as he is,” said Izuna, pouring salt over the wound.

Akira looked desperately into Hikaru’s eyes, trying to find some semblance of normality in his crazy team, but judging by the sheepish look in his eyes before he spoke, Akira already knew the answer that he would receive, and Hikaru delivered, just as Akira expected “I would like another kind of mission as well. We learned a lot this past year and I would like to test my skills out in the field.”

After his last teammate finished speaking, Kazumi offered a victorious _hmph_ in the general direction of his sensei and the Hokage, while pinning the old man under his gaze, like he could convince him just by staring that they were right. Akira cursed himself for always stressing the fact that teamwork was their most important skill. Of course the brats would use it against him.

The Hokage laughed, seemingly entertained by the three children in front of him and Akira wondered where he could muster the amusement from since all he wanted to do was to strangle all three of them – preferably at the same time, so that their newfound teamwork was the last thing that they’d remember.

“Alright then; I hear and register your complaint. How does a C-rank sound for the three of you?”

Three pair of eyes moved to regard him with more attention, clearly interested, and Sandaime chuckled for himself before pulling out the request file from the pile that was labeled with the letter C and handing it to Akira. He was still the squad leader and if he refused, there was nothing that his unruly students could do about it, no matter how hard they complained.

“This doesn’t sound bad; a mission to escort a caravan of goods to the Tea Country and then come back to Konoha with some medicinal herbs that grow only there – this sounds good, Hokage-sama. We will accept it.”

Kazumi didn’t have the time to actually say anything about the mission before he scooped all three of them out of the room and Akira sent them to pack their bags. On his way home, he sighed for himself. These three were going to prematurely age him before he could even have time to age properly. Now he understood better was Kakashi was so adamant in refusing every team that he was handed. Attachment phobia aside, he understood that sometimes, leading a Genin squad was more trouble than worth; but he smiled nonetheless. He would never trade the three devils for anything in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be the start of what I like to call in my head, "the Wave Arc of Team Nine". Hope you liked this chapter. Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> After a lot of debating and turning back what I had posted here, the ex-Kamui, I decided to just leave that for another time and start from scratch, presenting my OC or OC's from their first moments, and continuing on with Kamui when the time will be right.  
> I cannot wait to hear your guys thoughts!


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